Exercise as effective as drugs to treat high BP

Exercise may be as effective as taking prescribed drugs to tackle high blood pressure, a study claims.

However, the researchers in the UK caution patients against giving up their blood pressure lowering drugs in favour of an exercise regimen yet.

The study, suggests that patients should boost their physical activity levels, alongside their medication.

Exercise can lower systolic blood pressure -- the amount of pressure in the arteries when the heart is beating and expressed as the top number in any blood pressure reading.

However, how exercise compares with blood pressure lowering drugs, is not clear.

To get round this, the researchers pooled the data from 194 clinical trials looking at the impact of drugs on lowering systolic blood pressure and 197 trials looking at the impact of structured exercise, and involving a total of 39,742 people.

Structured exercise was categorised as: endurance, to include walking, jogging, running, cycling and swimming, and high intensity interval training; dynamic resistance, to include strength training -- for example, with dumbbells or kettle bells; isometric resistance, such as the static push-up (plank); and a combination of endurance and resistance.

Three sets of analyses were done: all types of exercise compared with all classes of blood pressure lowering drugs; different types of exercise compared with different types of drug; and different intensities of exercise compared with different drug doses.

Finally, these analyses were repeated, but in a group of exercise trials that included only participants with high blood pressure, as most of these trials were of young healthy participants with normal blood pressure.

The results showed that blood pressure was lower in people treated with drugs than in those following structured exercise programmes.

However, when the analyses were restricted to those with high blood pressure, exercise seemed to be just as effective as most drugs.

The effectiveness of exercise increased the higher the threshold used to define high blood pressure -- that is, anything above 140 mm Hg.

The researchers also found "compelling evidence that combining endurance and dynamic resistance training was effective in reducing systolic blood pressure."

However, structured exercise trials were fewer and smaller than those for drugs, they caution.

The researchers point out that prescriptions for drugs to lower blood pressure have risen sharply in recent years.

This trend is likely to continue given that major clinical practice guidelines have recently lowered the threshold for high systolic blood pressure to 130 mm Hg.

However, substituting exercise for drugs may be challenging as people with high blood pressure often have several long term conditions, and an estimated 40 per cent of adults in the US and many European countries are physically inactive, researchers said.

"We don't think, on the basis of our study, that patients should stop taking their anti-hypertensive medications," said a researcher.

"But we hope that our findings will inform evidence based discussions between clinicians and their patients," he said.

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Smoke-free policies linked to lower blood pressure among non-smokers

A recent study as observed that smoke-free policies in public spaces are associated with lower blood pressure readings among non-smokers. While smoke-free policies and laws that prohibit smoking in public places like bars and restaurants have been associated with reduced rates of hospitalisation for heart disease, previous studies have not examined changes in blood pressure.
 
"We found that nonsmoking adults in the study who lived in areas with smoke-free laws in restaurants, bars or workplaces had lower systolic blood pressure by the end of the follow-up period compared to those who lived in areas without smoke-free laws," said the lead author of the study.

Smoke-free laws were associated with reduced systolic blood pressure, but surprisingly not with reductions in diastolic blood pressure or high blood pressure. It's not entirely certain why this was the case, but it's possible that we are detecting effects on systolic blood pressure that are below the threshold for hypertension, the Dr. added.

Higher systolic blood pressure increases the risk of cardiovascular disease even when they are below the hypertension threshold, so the reductions in systolic blood pressure seen in this study suggest a potentially meaningful effect on population-level risk, she said.

"Also, when we looked at differences in blood pressure over time within individuals, comparing years when they lived in an area with a smoke-free law to years when they didn't, systolic blood pressure was lower on average when they lived in an area with smoke-free laws, after accounting for overall trends in blood pressure and for how people's levels of risk factors like diet and physical activity changed over the study period," she explained.

While the magnitude of associations was small at the individual level, researchers said the results point to a potential mechanism through which reductions in secondhand smoke, due to smoke-free policies, may improve population-level heart health. 

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Understanding Blood Pressure

Understanding blood pressure is key to keeping it at a healthy level.

This National Blood Pressure Education Month, here are some of the things that people should know about blood pressure.

What Is Blood Pressure?

Every time the heart beats, blood is pumped into the arteries, pushing blood onto its walls. The force by which blood is pushed onto the artery walls is called blood pressure, and it is determined using two measures: systolic pressure and diastolic pressure.

Systolic pressure is measured when the heart beats and blood pressure is highest, and diastolic pressure is measured when the heart rests between beats and blood pressure falls. Together, these two numbers are read as the patient's blood pressure measurement, with the systolic pressure over the diastolic pressure.

In regard to which measurement is more important, systolic blood pressure is typically given more attention as it is considered a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease in people over 50 years old. This is because as people age, systolic blood pressure steadily rises as a result of artery stiffness, plaque build-up, and increased incidences of cardiovascular disease.

That said, an elevation in either systolic or diastolic blood pressure may be used as evidence to diagnose high blood pressure.

High And Low Blood Pressure

Generally, 120/80 mm Hg or lower is considered normal blood pressure, but any lower than 90/60 may be considered hypotension or low blood pressure. This may be caused by medications, standing too quickly, or certain medical conditions, but it only becomes problematic when it caused dizziness, fainting, or even shock. For some people, low blood pressure may even be normal.
 
On the other hand, measurements of 140/90 mm Hg or higher is considered high blood pressure or hypertension. This condition is problematic because it usually does not have obvious symptoms but may cause kidney failure, stroke, heart attack, and heart failure.

Hypertensive patients are often prescribed with hypertension medications and are advised to make lifestyle changes.

Blood pressure higher than 180/120 mm Hg is considered a hypertensive crisis, and the patient must be rushed to a health care provider immediately.

Blood Pressure Reading Accuracy

A recently published study revealed that blood pressure measurements that are taken out of doctors' clinics are not exactly accurate. In fact, 39 percent of the people with normal blood pressure readings at the clinic registered high blood pressure readings out of the clinic. This inaccuracy is rather problematic because it prevents the patients from getting the proper health care that's specific to their needs.

On the part of the patients, some of the things that can alter blood pressure reading are slouching, having a full bladder, talking during the procedure, having crossed legs, and if the arm is unsupported during measurement. Such simple errors can add up to 10 points to blood pressure readings.

"Knowing how to measure blood pressure accurately at home, and recognizing mistakes in the physician's office, can help you manage your pressure and avoid unnecessary medication changes," said a doctor.

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Sauna bath may influence a person’s health

A study has recently warned that heat exposure of sauna may influence a person’s health.

According to the researchers, taking a sauna bath of 30 minutes reduces blood pressure and increases vascular compliance and heart rate similar to medium-intensity exercise.

The findings revealed that during sauna bathing, heart rate of the participants increased similarly to medium-intensity exercise and their body temperature rose by approximately 2°C.

Previous research has suggested that regular sauna bathing is associated with a reduced risk of coronary diseases and sudden cardiac death1, hypertension and Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

 The study analysed the effects of a 30-minute sauna bath in 100 participants.

In particular, the objective was to analyse the role of vascular compliance and reduced blood pressure in the health benefits caused by sauna bathing.

Vascular compliance was measured from the carotid and femoral artery before sauna, immediately after sauna, and after 30 minutes of recovery.

Immediately after 30 minutes of sauna bathing, the mean systolic blood pressure of participants reduced from 137 mmHg to 130 mmHg, and their diastolic blood pressure from 82 mmHg to 75 mmHg.

Furthermore, their systolic blood pressure remained lower even after 30 minutes of sauna bathing.

The mean carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity of the participants, which is an indicator of vascular compliance, was 9.8 m/s before sauna, decreasing to 8.6 m/s immediately after.

The findings shed light on the physiological mechanisms through which health benefits, which are caused by the heat exposure of sauna, may develop.

The research indicates that regular physical exercise and a healthy lifestyle promote cardiac health and prevent disease, but not all of the risk and protective factors are yet known.

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What is blood pressure and about plaques in blood vessels.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.

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Click on the link below to see the simple presentation about blood pressure and plaques in arteries.

 https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ab9OZsDECZw  

Walnuts may prevent diabetes and heart disease

Eating walnuts daily can ward off diabetes and heart disease in at-risk individuals, a new study has found.

Researchers  found that daily intake of 56 g of walnuts improves endothelial function in overweight adults with visceral adiposity.

The study included a sample of 46 adults aged 30-75.

Participants had a Body Mass Index larger than 25, and a waist circumference exceeding 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women.

They were also required to be non-smokers, and all exhibited one or more additional risk factors for metabolic syndrome, a precursor of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The group was randomly assigned to two 8-week sequences of either a walnut-enriched ad libitum diet or an ad libitum diet without walnuts.

Those chosen for the walnut diet were instructed to consume 56 g of shelled, un-roasted English walnuts per day as a snack or with a meal.

“We know that improving diets tends to be hard, but adding a single food is easy,” explained Dr and lead author of the research team.

“Our theory is that if a highly nutritious, satiating food like walnuts is added to the diet, there are dual benefits: the benefits of that nutrient rich addition and removal of the less nutritious foods,” Dr. said.

The research found that daily intake of 56 g of walnuts improves endothelial function in overweight adults with visceral adiposity.

“The primary outcome measure was the change in flow-mediated vasodilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery,” researchers said.

“Secondary measures included serum lipid panel, fasting glucose and insulin, Homeostasis Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance values, blood pressure, and anthropometric measures.

“FMD improved significantly from baseline when subjects consumed a walnut-enriched diet as compared with the control diet. Beneficial trends in systolic blood pressure reduction were seen, and maintenance of the baseline anthropometric values was also observed. Other measures were unaltered,” they said.

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Beet Juice Lowers Blood Pressure

Drinking a glass of beet juice may have an immediate impact on lowering blood pressure, according to a new study.

The study shows that within hours of drinking it, beet juice lowered systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) by an average of 4-5 points among a small group of healthy men.

Researchers say that drop may seem small, but on a public health level a reduction like that would equate to a 10% reduction in deaths due to heart disease.

“It’s promising that we can see an effect from a single dose,” says researcher. “That effect might be even greater over the long term if they are drinking it day upon day.”

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